A 13-year-old girl has had her hair cut to raise cash for two local charities.

Millie Turner, from Onchan, had her long hair cut off at the village’s Vanilla Room on Friday and is donating the money raised to Hospice Isle of Man and Victim Support Isle of Man.

The teenager goes to Ballakermeen High School in Douglas and her hair will be sent to the Little Princess Trust to be used for children who have lost their hair through cancer treatments.

Millie’s mother Kirstie Turner works for Hospice Isle of Man so she said it is a charity close to her heart.

The teenager has so far raised £90 of her £250 target on the ‘Just Giving’ website.

You can still donate to Hospice at www.justgiving.com/Kirstie-Turner or to Victim Support at www.justgiving.com/Kirstie-Turner

Cronkbourne Village opened its doors to the public for what historians fear could be the last time.

The Isle of Man Family History Society held an open day at No 39, Cronkbourne Village, filling the tiny cottage with display boards about the village itself and the industrial works, featuring the sailcloth factory whose existence led to the creation of Cronkbourne itself.

The small cottage also laid claim to the fact that the renowned artist Archibald Knox may have been born there.

However, Braddan Commissioners have revealed that they are intending to sell off the cottages to a potential developer later on in the year, and as such means that this may be the last time the puiblic will be able to view the historic cottages.

‘We’ve got a display of all of the history of the Sailcloth Mills, Clucas’s laundry and the life of the people who lived in the cottages,’ said Priscilla Lewthwaite, from the Isle of Man Family History Society.

‘This house, no 39, we think is the house that Archibald Knox was born in. It was either this one or next door. Braddan Commissioners have let us have it for a couple of days to do the display and it’s been very popular.’

The panels depicted childhood memories of growing up around the village in the early 20th century and also artefacts from some of the villagers were on display.

A medal awarded to Annie Cowin, of the Cronkbourne Ladies’ Choir was there to be seen, alongside a gold locket worn by Edith Kelly, who lived her entire life at No 29. Also, a crocheted Victorian collar, belonging to Sarah Kelly, dated back to around 1850.

Cronkbourne is the only industrial village of its kind in the island, having been created by the industrialist FW Moore to provide housing for the workforce of the huge sail cloth factory during the early Victorian years.

He even created the name of the village himself, joining the Manx word for hill, ‘Cronk’, with the English name for a river, ‘Bourne’.

It later provided housing for the staff of Clucas’s Laundry, once it had established itself in the same area.

‘This will probably will be the last time we can do this,’ said Priscilla.

‘We’re trying to persuade Braddan Commissioners if they would look in to furnishing one in the Victorian fashion, but it would depend on the developer.

‘Cronkbourne is a complete community. It is also the only industrial village on the island. It was built solely fore the sailcloth workers.

‘It is unique to the island. In England you have Port Sunlight, Bourneville and similar industrial villages like that. But this is the only one in the island, so it is important to preserve a cottage like this.’

Health chiefs from the Isle of Man are to travel to New Zealand in search of ideas to help the Manx health service.

They’ve already been to Spain.

This week’s Manx Independent reports on proposals that could radically change the island’s health service.

The paper has also been looking at the effect the £1 parking charge has had at the airport. It seems a lot of people are desperate to avoid it.

Staying at the airport, it’s been more than four years since it got a new radar system. So why isn’t it being used yet? We report the news from the Keys.

Our reporters have been in court too this week covering a number of cases, including one in which a defendant bit a policewoman.

We’ve also heard from the government minister in charge of tourism. He says that, in spite of the Mount Murray’s closure, tourism is booming.

Our Island Life supplement looks forward to comedian Ross Noble’s performance and includes the island’s what’s on guide.

The paper also looks forward to a busy weekend of sport.

The Manx Independent is in the shops now.

The government has renegotiated and extended its major contract with Manx Telecom for telecommunications and network services.

The Cabinet Office says the new contract will generate significant cost savings and optimise the opportunity for competitive tenders where competition exists in the future.

The contract covers six separate lots which were won by Manx Telecom in 2009 through a competitive tender process. It includes services such as wide area networks connecting over 220 sites across the island, local area networks providing infrastructure to more than 5,500 end customers, mobile services to more than 3,000 handsets as well as other fixed line telecoms and internet based services.

Following a lengthy period of market analysis coupled with formal and informal assessment with Manx Telecom and other market providers, the mobile and fixed line services have been extended for a period of up to two years. Manx Telecom’s contract for the remaining services has been extended for a period of up to five years.

Mark Lewin, the director of government technology services, said: ‘This is a major contract allowing us to provide cost effective integrated IT systems across the whole of Isle of Man Government and we are pleased to have completed the negotiations with Manx Telecom.

‘Through this process we have been able to protect the critical services and importantly secure significant cost savings in a number of areas. We have continued the process of broader competitive dialogue where possible which in this case resulted in one of the smaller components in the contract being awarded to another provider. The contract now gives us the ability to take advantage of new technologies which will in time open up further cost saving opportunities.’

Mr Lewin added: ‘Manx Telecom is a strategic partner with a significant amount of depth and breadth in communications services, helping to ensure the Island has a world class telecoms infrastructure.

‘Some critical services are only currently available through Manx Telecom and the original contract recognised this, allowing for the extension of individual components as required. The contract has therefore been extended in line with this provision but with varying terms reflecting our view of market development. We look forward to carrying on our work with Manx Telecom and we will continue to watch how the market and the underlying technologies evolve.

There will now be a full tender for mobile and fixed line services within the next two years and for the other services within the next five years as and when the market is optimised for further competitive tendering.’

Stuart Nelson has been promoted to director at Barclays in the Isle of Man.

Mr Nelson is already head of corporate and intermediaries at the bank but his promotion recognises the importance of this client segment to Barclays and also the growth in the corporate and intermediaries team which now features five key relationship managers.

He will report to Simon Scott, the managing director of Barclays in the Isle of Man, along with Gareth Rowlands, who heads up business banking and captive insurance, and Collette Johnson, head of personal and premier banking.

‘Stuart has over 20 years of experience in the offshore banking industry,’ said Mr Scott.

‘He is particularly experienced in client facing roles, and his knowledge has been instrumental in the development of our local corporate and intermediary offerings.

‘His well-deserved promotion is in recognition of his contribution to the business and his role in growing our local client services.’

‘I’m excited by the potential of the new structure of the client facing team at Barclays,’ said Mr Nelson.

‘Simon, Gareth, Colletteand I will be working closely together to ensure that Barclays continues to meet our clients’ needs. My role with corporate and intermediary clients in particular is a growth area for the bank where we can look to roll out innovative solutions to support our clients and improve the client experience.”

A motorist was cut free from his car by firefighters on Tuesday night after an accident at the Bungalow on the Mountain Road.

The Renault had hit the embankment and rolled onto its side.

Fire crews helped the police investigation by providing lighting and other equipment.

Sub officer David Cowley said it was pleasing to see all three services working together to achieve their goals. Fire, police and ambulance crews regularly train together.

Controversy over the awarding of childcare contracts has resurfaced - amid claims of a private social meeting between government officials and a representative of the charity that went on to win the bid.

The issue was raised in the House of Keys this week by Lib Van leader Kate Beecroft (Douglas South).

Health and Social Care Minister Howard Quayle insisted the allegation has been investigated by Treasury’s head of internal audit who found there was no case to answer.

The Children’s Centres raised serious concerns about the procurement process after it was announced that it lost, or failed to win a series of childcare contracts.

Three out of the four contracts were awarded to St Christopher’s. A fourth tender lot was withdrawn following concerns over an alleged conflict of interest concerning a member of the interviewing panel.

In the Keys, Mrs Beecroft asked whether any private social meetings took place last year between senior officers of the DHSC and St Christopher’s representatives.

Mr Quayle replied: ‘The department can confirm a private meeting which involved DHSC officers and an officer from St Christopher’s as well as another individual not connected to either organisation took place in 2014.

‘This was raised as part of the recent appeal against the award of children and families services by the Isle of Man Children’s Centre.

‘The subject of this meeting was not related directly to services being tendered and took place before requests for expressions of interests were requested. The matter was considered as part of the appeal procedure, the appeal was not upheld.’

Mrs Beecroft suggested it had been a social dinner.

Mr Quayle said: ‘While I can understand her concerns, this has been investigated by the independent head of the audit department and they have found no case to answer.’ He said that if the Lib Van MHK had any new evidence it would be investigated.

The fire service has released photographs of the aftermath of a blaze with which they dealt last night.

They show a severe fire that started in the kitchen of a house in Nursery Avenue, Onchan.

At about 9.30pm crews from Douglas fire atation were sent to reports of the house fire.

Upon arrival crews were confronted with a well established fire in the rear of the semi detached property.

The property owner and his two children had escaped from the premises and were uninjured.

A team of two firefighters wearing breathing apparatus entered the property and made their way to the rear kitchen area where they discovered a fully developed fire.

Crews used a high pressure hose reel and a thermal imaging camera to bring the blaze under control, this task was made more difficult due to the location of the gas boiler which was close to the source of the fire.

A second team of firefighters wearing breathing apparatus entered the building to help ventilate the first floor and roof space area.

There was severe fire and smoke damage to the kitchen area of the property along with smoke damage to the remainder of the property.

The cause of the fire was traced back to a number of lithium battery cells which were being charged in the kitchen.

Crews dealt with several hotspots and cut away parts of the ceiling area to ensure the building was left safe before returning to Douglas fire station at about 11.10pm.

The public are reminded to remain vigilant while charging any type of electrical device.

Even members of the local authorities don’t know the details of the government’s contract with SITA who run the island’s incinerator, an Onchan commissioner has revealed.

Rob Callister said despite the rocketing cost to local authorities for waste disposal charges at the incinerator, the precise details of the agreement between government and SITA had never been published and the costs imposed by SITA per tonne of waste disposed of remained a mystery.

‘These costs should be explained to the rate payer, but even the local authorities don’t know the financial arrangements with SITA. The details should be made public. I also don’t know who sets the so-called ‘‘gate fee’’ (the charge per tonne of waste disposed of),’ he said.

In 2012 the government decided to remove its subsidy towards the costs of waste disposal and by 2018, local authorities will be expected to pay the full government subsidy for the incinerator of around £5.7 million per year.

In 2013 the cost of disposal per tonne was £57 for domestic waste and £120 for commercial waste.

This year the cost is £99 and £160, and by 2018 the price will have rocketed to £161.35, with charges for domestic and commercial waste on an equal footing.

At the time, the DOI admitted the rise equates to an average annual rates increase of £22 per household each year from 2012 to 2018.

‘The DOI sets a rate and charges us per tonne of rubbish disposed of at the Energy from Waste Plant (incinerator), but what we don’t know is how much the DOI is being charged by SITA. I feel the local authorities are being used as a cash cow by the government,’ he said.

‘The government says it is a subsidised rate that is charged but we don’t know that, if we can’t have access to the figures. In 2018 the charge per tonne will be £161. Are you telling me that’s what the government has been paying since the contract with SITA started in 2004 and they only break even or make a profit in 2018?

‘It’s putting extreme pressure on local authorities, particularly those with little or no reserves.’

By 2018, he said rate payers in Onchan could be paying £515,200 per year for waste disposal. The contract with SITA to run the incinerator lasts until 2029.

The policy of placing extra burden on the local authorities who then have to charge through the domestic rating system is also questionable because it is inequitable: ‘Rates are not means tested whereas income tax is, and that’s an important consideration,’ he said.

As a result of the hike in fees. emphasis has been placed on recycling more material rather than disposing of it in the bin. The government’s 10 year waste strategy is to recycle 70 per cent of domestic waste by 2022.

But Mr Callister suggests this may be a flawed strategy because the energy produced by burning waste produces income for the government, which will be lost if 70 per cent of rubbish is recycled.

Since 2004, the plant has processed around 500,000 tonnes of waste, generating an estimated 260,000 megawatts of electricity, equating to £10 million in income. Any income generated via the sale of electricity is used to offset the operating cost of the plant but this could be lost.

The Steam Packet has cancelled tonight’s sailing from the Isle of Man to Heysham and its return after the Ben-my-Chree got into difficulties in Douglas harbour this evening.

The company simply described the problem as a ‘technical issue’ with the propeller which meant the vessel was unable to reach its designated berth.

It meant passengers were stuck on board.

Fire crews and the police were called as a precaution.

The ship finally docked at around 10pm, around four hours after it was due to.

Steam Packet chief executive Mark Woodward said: ‘Engineers are currently assessing the situation regarding the berthing of the vessel. The company has also requested the presence of divers.’

{http://www.steam-packet.com/LatestSailings|For the latest from the Steam Packet click here.}

A massive boost has been given to the Manx Lottery Trust in the form of a £3 million grant from the Big Lottery Fund in the UK.

The money is to be used over a five-year period up to 2020 to fund a new grant programme and details of how to apply to it for support are to be released on February 27.

Manx Lottery Trust chairman Malcolm Kelly said the extra money would fund real improvements to the island community, building on the current programme funded jointly between the Big Lottery Fund and Treasury which, since its launch in 2010, has supported 90 projects and reached more than 80,000 beneficiaries.

In 2012-13, the Manx Lottery Trust received £100,000 from the UK Big Lottery Fund.

The money represents the Manx share of proceeds from National Lottery tickets sold in the Isle of Man.

The money will fund the Manx Lottery Trust Grant Scheme, which will provide sums between £1,001 and £50,000 to needy or deserving causes.

Among the organisations to receive grants in 2012-13 were The Children’s Centre, Manx Whale and Dolphin Watch, Ballakermeen High School and Peel Coal Fund. A total of £293,414 was distributed during that year to 38 recipients.

Further information on the current programmes can be found at www.mlt.org.im

For general inquiries about funding from the Manx Lottery Trust contact Grants Officer, Manx Lottery Trust, PO Box 16, Ramsey IM99 4QF.

Singers and speakers were out in force on Friday as St John’s Methodist Church Hall hosted an Eisteddfod.

The event, which was held in St John’s for many years, was reinstated in 2014 – and its revival has been hailed a success.

Competitions were held for adults including hymn raising, solo singing, recitation, stump speech and many other classes.

Cups from the Cronk-y-Voddy Eisteddfod were donated for many of the classes and well-known accompanist Marilyn Cannell was on the piano.

Chairman for the night was John Kennaugh, joined by adjudicators Dot Tilbury and Graham Crowe.

Results:

Hymn raising: Mike Durber

Recitiation: Noel Cringle; Mike Cowin. Humorous: Marilyn Cannell. Political: Paul Baker. Best Newcomer: Sharron Christian.

Ladies’ solo: Clare Kilgallon, Kath Kelly.

Spelling bee: Eric Kelly; Irene Cowin.

Men’s solo: Joe O’Hanlon; Mike Durber; Don Parsonage; David Jackson; Nigel Crowe.

Quiz: Val and Dave Callin.

Duet: (Brass) M. Black and Pam Parkinson. (Woodwind) C. Kilgallon and Sharon Christian.

Humorous story: Mike Cowin; David Jackson; Eric Kelly (first for special diction); Mike Durber; Irene Cowin.

Instrumental solo: (Flute) Sharon Christian. (Keyboard) Stephen Bradley.

Stump speech: Nigel Crowe, Len Kerruish, Joe O’Hanlon, David Clague, Graham Crowe, Marilyn Cannell.

Leading international trust and corporate services provider, Equiom Group, has announced the appointment of Edward Leigh as senior manager of its yachting and aviation business lines.

Based at Equiom’s Isle of Man office, Edward will take responsibility for developing the Group’s yachting and aviation business by providing and promoting a first class personal service to existing and prospective clients and working closely with the wider management team to ensure business growth and that the regulatory and internal administration needs of the business are met.

Prior to joining Equiom, Edward held the position of managing director of the Marine, Aviation and Intermediary Divisions of a large international trust and corporate services provider, where he had responsibility for strategy and business development.

This included the establishment of group offices in Malta and in the UAE.

He also launched an offshore crew employment business and played a lead role in the implementation of a payroll and asset management platform.

Equiom Group client services director, Aidan Davin, said: ‘Edward has a wealth of experience in the offshore financial services sector.

‘He will play a key role in defining the strategic direction for the yachting and aviation business lines as well as identifying opportunities to develop this area of the business in terms of product offering and jurisdictional reach’.

Edward is a fellow of The Institute of Chartered Secretaries & Administrators, having qualified in 2004 and he became a Trust and Estate Practitioner in 2006. He is also a member of the Chartered Institute for Securities and Investments.

Edward said: ‘I am delighted to be joining Equiom. It is a market leader in aviation and yachting services and I look forward to further developing and expanding its fleet of aircraft and super yachts.’

Participants have begun to register to take part in the fourth annual Isle of Man Festival of Choirs, which will take place in October.

The festival attracts choirs from around the UK and Ireland.

New to this year’s festival will be a youth section for choirs aged 14 to 23 years. Other categories will include a ladies, male and mixed voice section. The first two from each class will receive prizes of £500 and £200 respectively. Each choir will be called on to perform four contrasting pieces of their own choice, one of which will be unaccompanied. Winners of each class go through to the final, with the overall winning choir scooping an additional prize of £1,500 and the ‘Choir of the Festival’ trophy.

The registration fee is £35 per choir and the form can be downloaded from the website www.festivalofchoirs.im. The closing date for entries is July 31.

The competition will be held in the the Villa Marina from October 16 to 18.

The Isle of Man’s same-day passport service will be scrapped later than planned when printing moves to the UK.

The printing of Manx variant British Passports at a central secure facility in the UK was due to start on February 19.

But that has been deferred for two weeks, while software is fully tested, and will now begin on Wednesday, March 4.

During the transition to the new system, applications for standard and five-day express passport services received on Tuesday, March 3, will not be processed until Friday, March 6.

The Passport Office will continue to deliver the same-day passport service up until Thursday, March 19.

The Isle of Man Passport Office in Douglas has printed the documents locally since 1967.

The Isle of Man office will retain its issuing authority status and continue to accept and process applications, with passports returned via special postal delivery.

The cost of the documents will remain in line with UK fees, with the standard service for adults costing £72.50 with a turnaround time of around four weeks and a five working day express service costing £103.

The Manx office will also retain the ability to issue emergency passports, which are valid for 12 months but only cover specified journeys, at a cost of £128.

The move was announced in October 2014 in response to the increased costs of producing modern passports with enhanced security features.

A new design was introduced in the UK in 2010 and is now being rolled out to British Crown Dependencies and overseas territories.

Annie Taylor, senior passport, immigration and nationality officer, said: ‘Printing in the UK will ensure the security and integrity of the Isle of Man variant British passport and the benefits that go with it for international travel.

‘From this implementation date, Isle of Man applicants will receive a New Generation British passport with enhanced security features, making it one of the most secure documents for travel in the world.’

Mrs Taylor has given assurances that waiting times will not be affected by the new system, and Manx passport holders will not be subject to the severe delays that have affected some recentUK applications.

Health Minister Howard Quayle MHK has given an assurance to the doctors’ union that any changes to their pension arrangements will not be brought in retrospectively.

The British Medical Association, the union that represents the majority of hospital doctors and GPs, has written to all members of Tynwald to outline its concerns about plans to reform public sector pensions.

Isle of Man Newspapers revealed last month that a number of medics have quit the Manx health service due in part to fears about their future pension provision.

In a nine-page letter signed by Andy Blake, the London-based head of pensions at the BMA, the union says it is ‘disappointed’ with the proposals outlined in the report by the public sector pension joint working group.

Now in a letter responding to the BMA, Mr Quayle said the concerns echoed those received from other scheme members ‘on what is a delicate and emotive issue for all public servants, including health professionals.’

Mr Quayle said the Public Sector Pensions Authority has set up a committee to consult and negotiate with staff and their representatives. A first meeting has been arranged for March 6 which Mr Blake has said he will attend.

He said: ‘The remit of the committee will be to look in detail at the proposals and therefore the majority of the detailed comments that you have made in your letter would best be addressed within that committee.’

Among the BMA’s concerns is the suggestion that pension benefits could be retrospectively downgraded, which it says is not allowed under the Public Sector Pensions Act 2011.

But Mr Quayle said: ‘I can confirm that the definition of final pensionable pay, future pension increases and changes to the accrual rate/early retirement factors would only be applied to future service benefits after the proposed date of change and would not be applied retrospectively.’

The Minister also explained that his department is about to establish a total reward working group which will consider reward, remuneration and pensions issues across the health service.

Among its other concerns, the BMA has criticised a proposal to increase member contributions by 3 per cent phased in over three years.

It points out that the Manx government had given an assurance that there would be no such increase until 2020.

The union has echoed the warning of consultants that planned pension changes could impact on recruitment and retention – with potentially serious implications for the delivery of healthcare on the island.

And it claims raising the minimum retirement age from 55 to 58 will do nothing to improve the finances of the government’s unified scheme.

Legislation aimed at raising standards in private sector rented accommodation has to go back for review after a heated debated in the House of Keys.

Some 20 landlords were in the public gallery to hear MHKs debate a report on the Landlord and Tenant (Private Housing) Bill.

A Keys committee investigation into the Bill concluded that it needed a complete rewrite as parts were unintelligible.

The committee, chaired by Douglas West MHK Chris Thomas, said it agreed that there should be basic guarantees of minimum standards of accommodation and behaviour by landlords.

But it said the Bill should also give more powers to landlords, outlining basic standards for the behaviour of tenants, including paying the rent on time and not damaging the property or its contents.

Mr Thomas said: ‘The committee recommends that the drafting errors identified be corrected before the Bill is allowed to proceed to third reading and the easiest way to do this is to send the Bill back to the Attorney General’s chambers for a complete rewrite in order to make it more intelligible. Unfortunately the Bill’s substance and style are flawed.’

Mr Thomas insisted the committee wasn’t trying to ‘kick this important legislation into the long grass.’

But Minister for Policy and Reform Chris Robertshaw, who introduced the Bill as Social Care Minister, argued that the committee’s report was biased in favour of landlords.

He said: ‘Just look at the thickness of the report, How many times do we hear from vulnerable tenants? The answer is that we do not at all. How many sub-standard properties did they see? None.’

Mr Robertshaw insisted this was a ‘light touch’ registration scheme which aimed to protect vulnerable tenants with minimum cost and no adverse impact on landlords’ businesses.

‘This is nothing short of scaremongering by some landlords,’ he claimed.

‘What message are we sending out if we can’t support something that really matters and that’s protecting vulnerable tenants?’ he asked angrily.

But Home Affairs Minister Juan Watterson (Rushen) said: ‘There is little doubt this Bill is in need of some serious CRP’.

But he said it needed to live to see another day and it was important the legislation was not ‘timed out’.

John Houghton (Douglas North) described the Bill as a ‘dog’s dinner’. He table an amendment that the Bill should be sent back not to the Attorney General’s chambers for a complete rewrite but to the department for review.

Member for Economic Development John Shimmin said: ‘Let’s get a balance in this, let’s have tenant and landlord as in the legislation’s title but let’s keep this alive because 90 per cent we all agree with and as ever we spend all our time fighting over the 10 per cent. The majority of this is good legislation to protect the most vulnerable.’

MHKs voted to approve the report’s seven recommendations as amended by 16 votes to six.

Campaigners have been given extra time to try to save the main post offices in Ramsey and Douglas.

The Isle of Man Post Office announced its concession this morning.

It followed a request from the {http://www.iomtoday.co.im/news/isle-of-man-news/minister-reveals-potential-for-u-turn-on-ramsey-post-office-1-7090608|Ramsey Postal Co-operative} to extend the deadline from March 2 to March 31 for the submission of alternative proposals from affected staff and local authorities for the conversion of the directly staffed offices.

The Post Office board considered and agreed the request yesterday.

March 31 is the final date any alternative submission will be accepted and no further extension of timescales can be agreed, the Post Office says.

The post offices were given extra breathing space {http://www.iomtoday.co.im/news/isle-of-man-news/post-office-closures-put-on-hold-after-emergency-keys-debate-1-6983613|in December} after an emergency House of Keys debate.

In a statement, the Post Office said: ‘In making this decision the Post Office regrets that this will extend the period of uncertainty for directly affected employees and sincerely hopes that the prolonged consultation period does not impact on services provided.

‘The Post Office would also like to thank Mannin Retail for its continued support and co-operation throughout the original and extended consultation period.’

The plan had been to move both post offices’ functions into nearby Spar shops run by Mannin Retail.

Douglas’s Crown post office is on Regent Street.

Ramsey’s is in the former Courthouse.

There have been a number of meetings and a protest in support of keeping the Ramsey facility.

The Post Office statement adds: ‘The Post Office is committed to continuing postal services in both Douglas and Ramsey town centres, and looks forward to receiving any alternative proposals for achieving the necessary savings from these interested parties.

‘The board will assess the viability of any proposals under the interested parties’ consultation process after the closing date.’

Related stories:

{http://www.iomtoday.co.im/news/isle-of-man-news/minister-reveals-potential-for-u-turn-on-ramsey-post-office-1-7090608|Potential U-turn on Ramsey post office}

{http://www.iomtoday.co.im/news/isle-of-man-news/meeting-asks-politicians-to-give-post-offices-a-further-month-s-stay-of-execution-1-7081419|Campaigners ask for a stay of execution for post office}

The number of people registered as unemployed in the Isle of Man is up month on month, but is lower than it was 12 months ago.

There were 91 more people out of work at the end of January compared with the end of December.

The total now stands at 973.

But it’s the lowest January figure for four years, down 209 people since January 2014.

The unemployment rate is 2.2 per cent.

That compares well internationally, with the UK standing at 5.8 per cent and Germany at 4.8 per cent.

While 48 per cent of tohose unemployed have been out of work for three months or less, 20 per cent have been unemployed for a year or more.

There wre 642 vacancies notified to the Job Centre in the month and 339 vacancies at the end of the month.

Once again, this is a sign of a skills gap in the economy.

There are 170 people with a construction industry background unemployed but just eight vancanies.

But there are more vacancies in education and health services than people with those qualifications looking for work.

And while the island’s booming e-gaming sector has 18 vacancies, only one person with experience in the sector is looking for work.

In January 1995 the number out of work stood at 1,759. The lowest January figure in recent years was in 2002 when the figure was 244.

The Ben-my-Chree’s schedule has been disrupted today after its engines failed in Douglas harbour last night.

Steam Packet engineers have now completed, and tested, repairs to the Ben-my-Chree’s damaged propeller system.

The Ben was expected to leave for Heysham at about 11.45am.

The scheduled return from Heysham at 2.15pm is now expected to leave around 5.15pm. Passengers are requested to check in no later than 3.30pm.

There will also be a delay to sailings this evening and overnight while the Ben attempts to return to its normal schedule.

Mark Woodward, chief executive, said ‘I would like to pay tribute to the on-board engineering team who have worked tirelessly through the night, supplemented byour shore based engineers, to identify and repair the damage to the Ben’s propeller system.

‘Also to the operations and reservations teams ashore who have worked to keep our passengers and freight customers updated.’

‘Once again I would like to apologise to our passengers for the inconvenience, and wish all our visitors and residents a safe and speedy return from the half term break.’

Last night passengers disembarked about four hours later than they should have after the ship suffered engine failure in Douglas harbour.

{http://www.iomtoday.co.im/news/isle-of-man-news/ben-my-chree-docks-eventually-1-7104844|Read last night’s story here.}

Fire crews and police were called after Ben-My-Chree lost control in the harbour.

The vessel’s stern hit the Battery Pier and a fishing boat at its mooring.

Fire crews assisted team Packet staff to secure lines so that the vessel could be tied alongside the pier so that work could be carried out on the vessel.

The Ben-My-Chree and the fishing boat were found to have suffered only superficial damage.

Harbour divers were called onto check the Ben-My-Chree for any signs of damage to the ships propellers and steering before it could be relocated to berth one, Victoria Pier, using a tug boat. Passengers and vehicles were then able to disembark.

It was suspected that fishing gear had become tangled around a propeller.

But divers found no evidence of that.